Time Compressing Video Content

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems for compressing video content are presented. The methods and systems include analyzing a sequence of media frames stored in the memory device and calculating a displacement level of each of the media frames. The displacement level indicates how different each of the media frames is to a previous media frame. The sequence of media frames is divided into a plurality of cuts where each cut ends at a media frame having a substantially high displacement level. Frames to be removed from the sequence of media frames are identified in each cut based upon the frame&#39;s displacement level. The identified frames are then removed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of pending U.S.application Ser. No. 12/823,806, filed Jun. 25, 2010, which claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Ser. No. 61/220,461, filed Jun. 25,2009, the entire disclosures of both applications are incorporated byreference herein.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The invention generally relates to video processing, and morespecifically to time compression of video content and programming.

BACKGROUND

Time compressing video content involves making the video contentpresentable to the viewer in a timescale that is different from thetimescale of the original video content. Automatic time compression ofvideo content is useful in a variety of different situations, forexample to fit thirty second television commercials into twenty-eightseconds available for addressable commercials, or more generally to fitvideo content into smaller intervals to create room for visual effects.

Traditional compression, whether based in audio or video, includesremoving small bits of information that will be undetectable to aviewer's eye or listener's ear. In an audio context, information anddata relating to frequencies inaudible by the human ear may be removedto shrink the size of the audio file. When the audio is replayed, atypical listener does not notice the missing frequencies because shewould not have been able to detect it even if it were still there.

The removal of information from a video stream presents unique problems.Time compressing a video traditionally involves removing pieces or videofrom a sequence in order to shorten the length to a desired length.Time-compression of video is difficult because of the high sensitivityof the human eye and its ability to notice the smallest discrepancies ordiscontinuities in a video sequence. Even if the viewer is unaware ofthe removal of some parts of the video, the video may still blur, becomechoppy, or contain visible static. When watching time-compressed video,the quality of the viewer experience is dependent on the minimizeddiscontinuities in the viewer-perceived flow of time, which depends onthe extent of displacement of visible objects in either theirthree-dimensional position or in their color space. The more drastic thedisplacement, the higher the level of viewer-perceived discontinuitywill be.

What is needed therefore is a system and method of time-compressingmedia while minimizing the viewer-perceived discontinuity.

SUMMARY

Example embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methodsfor time compressing video content. Embodiments will take video contentthat has a certain duration, and time compress it to fit into another(smaller) time duration, while minimizing any disruption in the userexperience. Some example embodiments may time compress addressabletelevision commercials, for example a TV commercial that was originallyproduced to be 30 or 60 seconds, now has to be “fit” into a time slot of28 or 58 seconds.

Rather than producing a totally new (28/58 second) commercial, theexample embodiments described will automatically time compress thecommercial to fit into the desired time space. It is noted that thepresent invention is not limited to use with TV commercials only, or totelevision or film video formats. Rather, example embodiments may beused in any situation where video or other media content needs to betime compressed to fit into a smaller time interval.

One embodiment of the invention includes a computer-implemented methodfor compressing media content. The computer includes a processor, amemory device and control logic. The method includes analyzing asequence of media frames stored in the memory device and calculating adisplacement level of each of the media frames. The displacement levelindicates how different each of the media frames is to a previous mediaframe. The sequence of media frames is divided into a plurality of cutswhere each cut ends at a media frame having a substantially highdisplacement level. Frames to be removed from the sequence of mediaframes are identified in each cut based upon the frame's displacementlevel. The identified frames are then removed.

Another embodiment of the invention includes a system for timecompressing media. The system includes an input device configured toreceive a media sequence and a target length for the media sequence, astorage device configured to store the media sequence and a processor incommunication with the storage device configured to process the mediasequence. A cut detection component is configured to divide the mediasequence into a plurality of cuts. Each cut ends at a media frame havinga substantially high displacement value. The media sequence is fed tothe cut detection component by the processor. A compression component isconfigured to identify and remove frames from the media sequence if themedia sequence exceeds the target length, the processor feeding themedia sequence from the cut detection component to the compressioncomponent.

Yet another embodiment of the invention includes a computer programproduct comprising a computer usable medium having control logic storedtherein causing the computer to optimize the targeting of media. Thecontrol logic comprises a first computer readable program code means forcausing the computer to analyze a sequence of media frames stored in thememory device and a second computer readable program code means forcausing the computer to calculate a displacement level of each of themedia frames. The displacement value indicates how different each of themedia frames is to a previous media frame. A third computer readableprogram code means is included for causing the computer to divide thesequence of media frames into a plurality of cuts, where each cut endsat a media frame having a substantially high displacement value. Afourth computer readable program code means causes the computer toidentify in a first cut frames to be removed from the sequence of mediaframes. The frames to be removed are identified based upon the frame'sdisplacement value. A fifth computer readable program code means causesthe computer to remove by the processor the frames to be removed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be more readily understood from a detaileddescription of example embodiments taken in conjunction with thefollowing figures:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example procedure in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example procedure in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example procedure in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example procedure in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example procedure in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example video screen in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 illustrates an example system in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Throughout the application, where compositions are described as having,including, or comprising specific components, or where processes aredescribed as having, including or comprising specific process steps, itis contemplated that compositions of the present teachings also consistessentially of, or consist of, the recited components, and that theprocesses of the present teachings also consist essentially of, orconsist of, the recited process steps.

In the application, where an element or component is said to be includedin and/or selected from a list of recited elements or components, itshould be understood that the element or component can be any one of therecited elements or components and can be selected from a groupconsisting of two or more of the recited elements or components.Further, it should be understood that elements and/or features of acomposition, an apparatus, or a method described herein can be combinedin a variety of ways without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent teachings, whether explicit or implicit herein.

The use of the terms “include,” “includes,” “including,” “have,” “has,”or “having” should be generally understood as open-ended andnon-limiting unless specifically stated otherwise.

The use of the singular herein includes the plural (and vice versa)unless specifically stated otherwise. Moreover, the singular forms “a,”“an,” and “the” include plural forms unless the context clearly dictatesotherwise. In addition, where the use of the term “about” is before aquantitative value, the present teachings also include the specificquantitative value itself, unless specifically stated otherwise. As usedherein, the term “about” refers to a ±10% variation from the nominalvalue.

It should be understood that the order of steps or order for performingcertain actions is immaterial so long as the present teachings remainoperable. Moreover, two or more steps or actions may be conductedsimultaneously.

Example embodiments of the present invention may include systems andprocedures which are capable of time compressing video. Such embodimentsmay apply to digitized video encoded as a sequence of frames, where thenumber of frames in a sequence is always a whole number. For example, adigital video sequence may be encoded according to an MPEG standard, orany other acceptable video standard. Each frame in such a sequenceconsists of two fields: the odd field, consisting of scan lines 1, 3, 5,etc., and the even field, consisting of scan lines 0, 2, 4, etc. Exampleembodiments may time compress video content by reducing the number offrames in such a sequence.

Some example embodiments of the present invention may provide proceduresfor time compressing video, in order to reduce the duration of the videosegment to match a target length or duration. Such procedures may timecompress a video segment by removing a number of frames contained in thevideo segment. It is noted that video is typically played at a fixedframe rate. Accordingly, reducing the length of the video, i.e., thenumber of frames, in effect reduces the duration of the video. In whatfollows, time compression of video is described in terms of reducing avideo segment of a certain length to a target length.

According to one embodiment a compression procedure may begin byreceiving a video sequence V, consisting of a set of frames F, where nequals the number of frames (and therefore also equals the length of V):

V={F ₁ ,F ₂ ,F ₃ . . . F _(n)}, where len(V)=n

Such an example embodiment may time compress the sequence to a newsequence V_(reduc), where V_(reduc) is shorter than V, but theuser-perceived content is the same, and there are minimal or nouser-perceived artifacts or displacements:

V _(reduc) ={F′ ₁ ,F′ ₂ ,F′ ₃ . . . F′ _(m)}, where len(V _(reduc))=m,and m<n

To do so, the video sequence may be divided into cuts or scenes. In thisway, the original sequence of frames may be organized into scenes orcuts C, each of which may represent a sequence of frames from theoriginal material that the video sequence was composed from:

V={C ₁ ,C ₂ ,C ₃ . . . C _(x)}, where C ₁ ={F ₁ . . . F _(c1) },C ₂ ={F_(c1+1) . . . F _(c2)}, . . .

Scene-cut detection may be performed using a variety of image processingalgorithms. In an example embodiment, the displacement betweensubsequent video frames and fields may be calculated. For instance, insuch an embodiment, a number may be computed for each frame or field inthe video sequence. The number (here called vdiff) may indicate thelevel of displacement, or a displacement value, of the current frame orfield when compared to the preceding frame or field. Such a number wouldindicate how different the current frame or field is in relation to theprevious one. For example, the range of vdiff could be 0.0 to 1.0, where0.0 indicates no difference between frames or fields, and 1.0 indicatescomplete difference (as between a completely black and a completelywhite frame). For instance, as illustrated in FIG. 1, an exampleprocedure may calculate a displacement value 102 for each frame or fieldin a video sequence 101, resulting in a set of displacement values whichmay be represented as a distance chart 103.

The example procedure may then use the distance map to do scene cutdetection, and to decompose the video sequence into a sequence of cuts.For instance, as illustrated in FIG. 2 the video segment may be dividedinto cuts at locations in the video segment where the calculateddisplacement is very large, as large displacements may indicate a scenechange. Thus, FIG. 2 illustrates that the displacement values calculatedfor the sequence 201 may be used to detect scenes 202 and to divide thevideo sequence into multiple cuts 203.

Once the sequence is divided into cuts, the example process may identifypull-down patterns in each cut. Pull down patterns may exist in thevideo sequence if a “pulldown” conversion, a technique to transform avideo created at one frame rate to another frame rate, has been appliedto the video, as is often the case. For instance, video content isproduced with different frame rates. For example, film content istypically shot at 24 frames-per-second (fps) while television content istypically created at 29.97 fps. Such content may, however, be convertedbetween different frame rates as necessary. For example, a piece of filmcontent produced at 24 fps may be transformed into a piece of videocontent at 29.97 fps. In such a case, the ratio between the two framerates is 24:29.97≈4:5, which means that for every four frames in thefilm content, five frames in the video content are needed. Accordingly,film content may be converted into video content using a process whichessentially stretches four frames to five frames by using the fields inthe original four frames to create an extra fifth frame every fourframes. The process used to perform this commonly performed conversionis known as “2:3 pulldown.”

For example, the original content may contain frames A, B, C, and D.Since every frame includes two fields (odd and even), the content can berepresented as the following sequence of two-field frames: A1A2, B1B2,C1C2, D1D2. In such an example, the even fields of frame B may becombined with the odd fields of frame C to create an additional frame,which may be inserted into the sequence, transforming the original fourframe sequence into the following five frame sequence: A1A2, B1B2, B2C1,C1C2, D1D2. The newly created five frame sequence may accordingly beused for TV/video content purposes. Although there are many differentways to combine the fields of the four frame sequence to produce thefifth frame, whichever pattern is chosen, it is repetitive andpredictable.

Accordingly, example procedures may detect such patterns within thevideo sequence to be time-compressed. For example, each cut may besearched in sequence, determining for each cut scanned whether apull-down pattern is detected within the cut. Note that pulldownalgorithms are applied uniformly on source segments (i.e., when theoriginal content shot on film is transferred to video). As each cutshould represent a single scene, at most one pulldown pattern should bepresent within each cut. That is, for each cut either no pulldown willhave been applied, or a single pulldown algorithm will have beenapplied, resulting in a single pulldown pattern present in the cut. Ifmultiple pulldown patterns exist within a cut, then the cut may need tobe divided into smaller cuts. Accordingly, an example process maysubdivide such a cut again using the scene-cut detection techniquesdescribed above.

For every cut where a pulldown pattern is detected, a reverse pulldownprocedure may then be executed. Application of such a procedure mayrestore the cut to its state before the pulldown was originally applied.As a result the extra frames created during the pulldown process will beremoved from the cut, reducing the total number of frames present in thecut and in the video segment as a whole. For example, applying such aprocedure to a cut on which 3:2 pulldown was applied, the number offrames in the cut would be reduced by a factor of ⅘. In addition, thecontent removed will have been artificially introduced in the firstplace. Accordingly, the time compression achieved will not create anydistortions in the resulting video segment at all.

As an example of one embodiment, FIG. 3 illustrates a video sequencewhich has been divided into a number of cuts 301. Each cut may, in turn,be divided into a number of fields 302 (for reasons of simplicity, fielddivision is only shown for Cut 1 and Cut 3). Then, the fields may besearched for the existence of a pulldown pattern 303. In FIG. 3, a 2:3pulldown is detected in Cut 1, which is then removed from the cut 304,resulting in a cut which is reduced in size 305. Here fields B1 and D2306 are identified as having been added by a previous 2:3 pulldown, andare therefore removed in the final sequence 305.

A 2:3 pulldown detection can be accomplished by classifying each frameof the cut and further searching for an occurrence of a repeated patternof frame type sequence. Classification of frames can include comparingthe fields of each frame with fields of the previous frame in thesequence and identifying the frame as either a black frame (0), newframe (1), incremental frame (2), repeated frame (3), transitionframe(4), repeated top field only(5), or repeated bottom field only(6).As an example, if a 2:3 pulldown sequence, defined by pattern“A1A2,B1B2,B1C2,C1D2,D1D2” is present in the sequence, a repeatedpattern of frame types 2,2,5,2,6 is detected. Classification of framesto the above mentioned types is accomplished by comparing the fieldsfrom both frames ordered as pairs in various combinations. For example,since the field B1 in frame B1C2 is identical to the field B1 in theprevious frame B1B2, that frame is classified as a “repeated top fieldonly” frame. Furthermore, the comparison of a field pair may includecomputing differences in a histogram as well as differences in the setof features. A value between 0.0 and 1.0 can be assigned to indicatecomplete dissimilarity to a complete similarity. In one embodiment, aclassification algorithm based on a multi-layer neural network may beused. Other embodiments may use other classification algorithms based oneither support vector machines, or decision trees or other suitableclassification methods.

The example procedure may process each cut in which a pulldown patternwas detected, removing the fields added by the pulldown process. Thecuts may be processed in any order, such as, without limitation, left toright, right to left, or random. Also, in some example embodiments, inorder to avoid unnecessary processing, after each cut is processed, theresulting new total frame length of the full sequence can be recomputed.If that length is already smaller than the target length, additionalcuts may not be processed, even if those cuts contain pulldown patterns.

In summary, if the procedure starts with a video sequence V (consistingof a sequence of cuts C_(n)):

V={C ₁ ,C ₂ ,C ₃ . . . C _(x)}, where len(V)=n frames

After the first cut is identified, and reverse pulldown is applied onit:

V′={C′ ₁ ,C ₂ ,C ₃ . . . C _(x)}, where len(C′ ₁)≦len(C ₁), andtherefore len(V′)≦len(V)

After the next cut is identified, and reverse pulldown is applied on it:

V″={C′ ₁ ,C′ ₂ ,C ₃ . . . C _(x)}, where len(C′ ₂)≦len(C ₂), andtherefore len(V″)≦len(V′)

The example process may repeat until either all cuts are processed, orthe length of the transformed video sequence is equal to or smaller thanthe desired length.

If the resulting video sequence is not reduced to the desired length byapplication of the reverse pulldown procedure, an example procedure,according to one embodiment, may next reduce the length of the sequenceby using interpolation to combine two subsequent frames into one framethat represents the same content.

The example procedure may scan the video sequence in order to identifyframes which may be combined. For example, the process may scan eachframe starting at the beginning of the video sequence and workingtowards the end, identifying individual pairs of frames which may becombined, e.g., based on their similarity exceeding some threshold, andcombining those frames. Alternatively, the process may rank all pairs offrames (i.e., all pairs of frames appearing sequentially in thesequence) in the sequence on how closely they resemble one another,choosing the pair with the highest resemblance for interpolation into asingle frame. Such a process may then continue by combining the nextclosest match, or re-ranking all pairs of frames in the resultingstream.

In addition, in order to ensure that interpolations are evenly spreadthroughout the sequence, some example procedures may identifyinterpolation pairs on a cut by cut basis. It is noted that although theinterpolation process is described as occurring after reverse pulldownis complete, both portions of the procedure may also be performedconcurrently, or as needed. For example, as explained above, theprocedure may divide the sequence into cuts; and for each cut, the pairof frames that most closely resembles one another may be identified, andcombined. The procedure may be repeated for each cut in the sequence,either until all cuts have been processed or until the resultingsequence has been reduced to the target length. If all cuts areprocessed without having reached the desired length, the procedure maybegin again, etc. In addition, in some examples, pairs occurring at theend of a cut may be favored for interpolation, as the information lostby interpolation is generally less user perceptible at the end of a clip(versus at the beginning).

FIG. 4 illustrates the application of interpolation to a video sequence.In some example procedures, the displacement numbers 401 described abovemay again be used to identify frames for interpolation. As explainedabove, a high displacement number indicates a large change betweensubsequent frames, while a small number indicates less change. Where apair of frames is detected 402 that are sufficiently similar, frames Cand D as shown in the example, those frames may be interpolated 403,merging them into a single frame C′. Thus, in the resulting sequence404, the two identified frames may be replaced with one new frame. Thenew frame may be created using any reasonable technique. For example,the individual pixels of each frame may be averaged together resultingin new pixels. Many other techniques may also be applied.

As above, some example procedures may re-compute the length of thesequence after every interpolation. If the length of the sequence isequal to, or less than, the desired length, the procedure may endwithout performing additional interpolations. Accordingly, an exampleprocedure may begin with a video sequence V (consisting of a sequence offrames):

V={F ₁ . . . F _(i−1) ,F _(i) ,F _(i+1) . . . F _(n)}, where len(V)=nframes

The procedure may then identify a pair of frames for interpolation,using any of the techniques described above, and may combine thoseframes. After the first interpolation has been applied:

V′={F ₁ . . . F _(i−1) ,F _((i)+(i+1)) ,F _(i+2) . . . F _(n)}, wherelen(V′)=n−1 frames

The procedure may continue until either all matching subsequent framesare interpolated, or the length of the transformed video sequence isequal to, or smaller than the desired length.

In some example procedures the length of the resulting sequence may thenbe checked. The resulting time-compressed video sequence may be exactlyequal to the target length, or it may be shorter than the target length.Should the time-compressed sequence be shorter than the target length,example procedures may then apply a pulldown technique to increase thelength of the sequence to exactly, or nearly exactly, meet the targetlength. In such example procedures, the pulldown pattern will depend onthe length of the video sequence in relation to the target length.

For example, if the length of the time-compressed video sequence is 720frames (24 seconds at 29.97 fps), and the target length is 810 frames(27 seconds), then a pulldown needs to be applied to stretch every 8input frames into 9 output frames. If a sequence of 8 input frames isrepresented as: A1A2 B1B2 C1C2 D1D2 E1E2 F1F2 G1G2 H1H2, then onepossible solution would be to create the following series of frames:A1A2 B1B2 C1C2 D1D2 D2E1 E1E2 F1F2 G1G2 H1H2. Similarly, if the lengthof the time compressed video sequence is 720 frames (24 seconds), andthe target length is 840 frames (28 seconds), then a pulldown would needto be applied to stretch every 6 input frames into 7 output frames.Again, if a sequence of 6 input frames is represented as: A1A2 B1B2 C1C2D1D2 E1E2 F1F2, then one possible solution would be to create thefollowing sequence: A1A2 B1B2 C1C2 C2D1 D1D2 E1E2 F1F2.

For example, FIG. 5 illustrates the application of a pulldown. In FIG. 5the length of the time-compressed video sequence 501 may be 24 seconds,which may be shorter than the target length which may be 28 seconds.Therefore, a pulldown 502 may be applied to “stretch” the sequence tothe desired length. In order to go from 24 seconds to 28 seconds, oneextra frame must be created for every six frames in the sequence. InFIG. 5 a group of six frames is represented as the sequence A1A2 B1B2C1C2 D1D2 E1E2 F1F2. For every such sequence a new frame is created 503,in the example the frame C2D1, and inserted into the final sequence.504.

In summary, some example procedures may produce a time-compressed videosequence V (consisting of a sequence of frames):

V={F ₁ ,F ₂ ,F ₃ , . . . F _(n)}, where len(V)=n frames, and m=targetlength, and n<m

The present invention may be embodied in may different forms, including,but in no way limited to, computer program logic for use with aprocessor (e.g., a microprocessor, microcontroller, digital signalprocessor, or general purpose computer), programmable logic for use witha programmable logic device, (e.g., a Field Programmable Gate Array(FPGA) or other PLD), discrete components, integrated circuitry (e.g.,an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC)), or any other meansincluding any combination thereof. In a typical embodiment of thepresent invention, predominantly all of the communication between usersand the server is implemented as a set of computer program instructionsthat is converted into a computer executable form, stored as such in acomputer readable medium, and executed by a microprocessor under thecontrol of an operating system.

Computer program logic implementing all or part of the functionalitypreviously described herein may be embodied in various forms, including,but in no way limited to, a source code form, a computer executableform, and various intermediate forms (e.g., forms generated by anassembler, compiler, linker, or locator). Source code may include aseries of computer program instructions implemented in any of variousprogramming languages (e.g., an object code, an assembly language, or ahigh-level language such as Fortran, C, C++, JAVA, or HTML) for use withvarious operating systems or operating environments. The source code maydefine and use various data structures and communication messages. Thesource code may be in a computer executable form (e.g., via aninterpreter), or the source code may be converted (e.g., via atranslator, assembler, or compiler) into a computer executable form.

The computer program may be fixed in any form (e.g., source code form,computer executable form, or an intermediate form) either permanently ortransitorily in a tangible storage medium, such as a semiconductormemory device (e.g., a RAM, ROM, PROM, EEPROM, or Flash-ProgrammableRAM), a magnetic memory device (e.g., a diskette or fixed disk), anoptical memory device (e.g., a CD-ROM), a PC card (e.g., PCMCIA card),or other memory device. The computer program may be fixed in any form ina signal that is transmittable to a computer using any of variouscommunication technologies, including, but in no way limited to, analogtechnologies, digital technologies, optical technologies, wirelesstechnologies (e.g., Bluetooth), networking technologies, andinternetworking technologies. The computer program may be distributed inany form as a removable storage medium with accompanying printed orelectronic documentation (e.g., shrink wrapped software), preloaded witha computer system (e.g., on system ROM or fixed disk), or distributedfrom a server or electronic bulletin board over the communication system(e.g., the Internet or World Wide Web).

Hardware logic (including programmable logic for use with a programmablelogic device) implementing all or part of the functionality previouslydescribed herein may be designed using traditional manual methods, ormay be designed, captured, simulated, or documented electronically usingvarious tools, such as Computer Aided Design (CAD), a hardwaredescription language (e.g., VHDL or AHDL), or a PLD programming language(e.g., PALASM, ABEL, or CUPL).

Programmable logic may be fixed either permanently or transitorily in atangible storage medium, such as a semiconductor memory device (e.g., aRAM, ROM, PROM, EEPROM, or Flash-Programmable RAM), a magnetic memorydevice (e.g., a diskette or fixed disk), an optical memory device (e.g.,a CD-ROM), or other memory device. The programmable logic may be fixedin a signal that is transmittable to a computer using any of variouscommunication technologies, including, but in no way limited to, analogtechnologies, digital technologies, optical technologies, wirelesstechnologies (e.g., Bluetooth), networking technologies, andinternetworking technologies. The programmable logic may be distributedas a removable storage medium with accompanying printed or electronicdocumentation (e.g., shrink wrapped software), preloaded with a computersystem (e.g., on system ROM or fixed disk), or distributed from a serveror electronic bulletin board over the communication system (e.g., theInternet or World Wide Web).

It will further be appreciated that the above-described methods andprocedures may be provided using the systems disclosed herein, or onother types of systems. The methods and procedures, unless expresslylimited, are not intended to be read to require particular actors orsystems performing particular elements of the methods.

In the preceding specification, the present invention has been describedwith reference to specific example embodiments thereof. It will,however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be madethereunto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of thepresent invention. The description and drawings are accordingly to beregarded in an illustrative rather than restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for compressingmedia content, the computer comprising a processor, a memory device andcontrol logic stored therein, the method comprising: analyzing by theprocessor a sequence of media frames stored in the memory device;calculating a displacement value of each of the media frames, thedisplacement value indicating how different each of the media frames isto a previous media frame; dividing by the processor the sequence ofmedia frames into a plurality of cuts, each cut ending at a media framehaving a substantially high displacement value; identifying in a firstcut frames to be removed from the sequence of media frames, the framesto be removed identified based upon the frames displacement value; andremoving by the processor the frames to be removed.
 2. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the step of identifying frames to be removed furthercomprises identifying by the processor a pulldown pattern in a firstcut, the pulldown pattern comprising previously-added media frames; andremoving by the processor the previously-added media frames.
 3. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the step of identifying frames to be removedfurther comprises identifying by the processor frames havingsubstantially similar displacement values; and interpolating the twoidentified frames having substantially similar displacement values intoone interpolated frame.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the set ofinterpolating further comprises averaging pixel values of the identifiedframes, the interpolated frame comprising the average pixel values. 5.The method of claim 1 further comprising ranking displacement values ofpairs of sequential frames; and interpolating the highest ranking pairof sequential frames into one frame.
 6. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising identifying a target length for the video sequence; uponremoving the identified frames, determining whether the sequence ofmedia frames matches the target length; and if the sequence of mediaframes exceeds the target length, identifying in a second cut frames tobe removed from the sequence of media frames.
 7. The method of claim 6further comprising determining that the sequence of media frames is lessthan the target length; and executing a pulldown to augment the sequenceof media frames to match the target length.
 8. The method of claim 6further comprising repeating the steps of identifying and removing mediaframes for each cut until the sequence of media frame matches the targetlength.
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein the displacement value isscaled to a range of 0.0 to 1.0, wherein a displacement value of 0.0indicates no displacement between the frames, and a displacement valueof 1.0 indicates complete difference between the frames.
 10. The methodof claim 1 further comprising generating a displacement chart mappingthe sequence of frames as a function of displacement value.
 11. Themethod of claim 1 further comprising identifying dividing the sequenceof video frames into visible elements; and dividing each visible elementinto a plurality of cuts.
 12. The system for time compressing mediacomprising: an input device configured to receive a media sequence and atarget length for the media sequence; a storage device configured tostore the media sequence; a processor in communication with the storagedevice configured to process the media sequence; a cut detectioncomponent configured to divide the media sequence into a plurality ofcuts, each cut ending at a media frame having a substantially highdisplacement value, the media sequence fed to the cut detectioncomponent by the processor; and a compression component configured toidentify and remove frames from the media sequence if the media sequenceexceed the target length, the processor feeding the media sequence fromthe cut detection component to the compression component.
 13. The systemof claim 12 wherein the compression component comprises areverse-pulldown component, the reverse pulldown component configured toremove frames previously added by a pulldown procedure.
 14. The systemof claim 12 wherein the compression component comprises an interpolationcomponent, the interpolation component configured identify and merge apair or sequential frames having substantially similar displacementvalues.
 15. The system of claim 12 further comprising a pull downcomponent configured to augment the media sequence to match the targetlength if the media sequence is less than the target length.
 16. Thesystem of claim 12 comprising a segmentation component configured todivide the media sequence into visible elements; the processor feedingeach of the visible elements to the cut detection component and thecompression component.
 17. A computer program product comprising acomputer usable medium having control logic stored therein causing thecomputer to optimize the targeting of media, the control logiccomprising: a first computer readable program code means for causing thecomputer to analyze a sequence of media frames stored in the memorydevice; a second computer readable program code means for causing thecomputer to calculate a displacement value of each of the media frames,the displacement value indicating how different each of the media framesis to a previous media frame; a third computer readable program codemeans for causing the computer to divide the sequence of media framesinto a plurality of cuts, each cut ending at a media frame having asubstantially high displacement value; a fourth computer readableprogram code means for causing the computer to identify in a first cutframes to be removed from the sequence of media frames, the frames to beremoved identified based upon the frames displacement value; and a fifthcomputer readable program code means for causing the computer to removeby the processor the frames to be removed.
 18. The computer product ofclaim 17 wherein fourth means further comprises means for identifying bythe processor a pulldown pattern in a first cut, the pulldown patterncomprising previously-added media frames; and removing by the processorthe previously-added media frames.
 19. The computer product of claim 17wherein the forth means further comprises means for identifying by theprocessor frames having substantially similar displacement values; andinterpolating the two identified frames having substantially similardisplacement values into one interpolated frame.
 20. The computerproduct of claim 19 further comprising sixth computer readable programcode means for causing the computer to average pixel values of theidentified frames, the interpolated frame comprising the average pixelvalues.